Prodigal Harold
by Im-On-A-Roll
Summary: While vacationing at the beach with his friends, Harold will meet an attractive older girl who he thinks he might have a chance with. But soon, he will learn the hard way that you can't judge a book by its cover.
1. Chapter 1

_Chapter 1 _

It all began on a day that seemed very familiar to the five sons and five fathers. Arnold, Gerald, Harold, Side, Eugene and their dads had all packed up the familiar orange van and were now driving along singing songs to pass the time. No, they were not driving to the lake for another disastrous fishing trip. This story takes place a few months after that fiasco, about halfway through June. And rather than camping out in the woods, where wild animals and bad weather had ruined their trip before, they planned to stay in a beach house for the week to relax and renew.

"You boys excited?" asked Martin Johansson, who was driving the van.

"As long as this is an improvement to the last father-son trip, then yeah," Gerald replied.

"Oh, come on, Gerald," said Arnold (Mister Optimistic). "Nothing's better than summer at the beach. Besides, I think we can all agree that anything's better than the last trip."

The answer he received was a unanimous, "Yes."

"Honestly, I'd really never talk about that again," said Sid.

"Then let's stop talking and start singing!" said Eugene.

"That's the spirit, son," Nate, his father, replied. "It's your turn to pick. What'll it be?"

Eugene needed no time to think. "How 'bout we stick to tradition and go with 'Miss Susie…'"

"No!" shouted Harold. "Not that song! Anything but that song!"

The others all stared at him in shock.

"Why, Harold?" asked his father Jerry. "I thought you liked it."

"I _did_," Harold confessed. "But we sang it on the last trip and everything went downhill from there. I want this trip to be as unlike the last one as possible."

For several seconds, everyone was silent.

"You followin' this?" Gerald whispered to Arnold.

"Nope," Arnold whispered back.

Jerry was the first to break the silence. "Son, it's nice that you want the trip to be a good one, but I seriously doubt that the song was the thing that ruined everything last time."

"I know, but still," was all Harold managed to say in response.

Jerry put a hand on Harold's back. "Harold, I can't make any promises, but it seems pretty safe to say that this trip won't end like the last one. We'll be at the beach, pretty much the exact opposite of where we went last time. That means there won't be any bears."

"Or canned beans," said Gerald.

"Exactly," said Jerry.

"Or rabid raccoons," said Sid.

"Or tents to lose," said Arnold.

"Or biting fish," said Ray, Sid's father. "… Hopefully."

"Or skunk cabbage," said Martin.

"Or rain," said Eugene.

"Or hale," said Nate.

"Or frogs," said Grandpa Phil.

"Alright, everyone," Jerry interrupted. "I think we've all made our point: This trip will be more of a success than the last one."

The others nodded in agreement and continued talking amongst themselves.

As soon as the others were out of earshot, Jerry cupped his hand over his mouth to whisper something to Harold.

"Also, I didn't want to let the others know, but I have something special planned for you and me."

Harold liked the sound of that, so much in fact that he forgot to whisper. "What is…"

"Shh." Jerry put his hand over Harold's mouth to silence him. He then looked around to make sure no one else had heard him. They hadn't, so Jerry continued. "I can't tell you now, it's a surprise. You'll find out on Friday."

"Friday?" said Harold, this time he remembered to whisper. "That's four whole days away."

"Trust me, it'll be worth the wait," Jerry said with a wink.

"Okay."

"And remember," Jerry continued. "Not a word to any of the others."

"Got it."

"And one more thing," Jerry said, in slightly less of a whisper than before.

"Yeah?"

"This time, don't eat any old whipped cream," said Jerry with a hint of a laugh.

Harold rolled his eyes. "Why does everyone still remind me of that?"

Harold remained silent for the rest of the van ride. A lot of questions were on his mind. What was this big surprise his dad had planned for them? Why did he have to keep it a secret from the others? Would this trip truly be better than the last one? Most importantly, what were they going to have for lunch when they arrived at the beach house?

_End of chapter_


	2. Chapter 2

_Chapter 2_

Less than an hour later, they reached their destination. Martin pulled the van up to their beach house, which was four blocks away from the beach.

"Well," he said as he put the van into park, "it may not have the best view of the ocean, but it's better than a tent."

The others exchanged a few comments in agreement and then they all began unpacking. Barely a minute in, Eugene was struggling to pull a rolled up blanket from the huge pile of stuff in the back of the van.

"You sure you don't want a hand there, Son?" asked Nate.

"Don't worry, Dad," Eugene assured him. "I've got it."

Seconds later, he managed to get the blanket free with one final tug. Unfortunately, he'd pulled so hard that as soon as the blanket was free, it went flying into a nearby bunch of garbage cans… taking Eugene with it.

Nate rushed over to aid his son. "Eugene! Are you okay?"

"I'm okay," Eugene replied as a garbage can lid spun on his head.

Nate sighed and gave a thumbs-up to the others. "He's okay!"

"Well, it hasn't even been five minutes and already we're off to the same start as last time," said Gerald.

"Not exactly," said Sid. "Last time it was a tent pole. This time it's a blanket."

"Come on, guys," said Arnold. "It's not some kind of curse, it's just Eugene being Eugene."

"Whatever you say, Arnold," Gerald replied.

Harold, however, wasn't convinced. He gulped nervously and said to his father, "Well if I wasn't convinced before, I am now."

Jerry, it seemed, was only half listening. The other half of him was rummaging through the back of the van looking for something.

"We may have a bigger crisis on our hands than that if I don't find my wallet, Son," said Jerry. "You think you can help me find it?"

"Sure," Harold replied.

Harold let his father search in the pile and began looking under the van. After about a minute, he came to the conclusion that it wasn't there. Jerry was still digging through the pile, so it most likely wasn't there either. Then it struck Harold. He hurriedly pulled the passenger doors of the van open and found the wallet on the spot where his father had been sitting.

"Found it, Dad!" he called to Jerry.

He picked it up. To his surprise, it felt unusually full. Within seconds, Jerry was at his side to claim the wallet.

"Thanks, Son."

Harold didn't give it up right away. He eyed it suspiciously for a moment.

"Harold?" Jerry asked.

Harold didn't appear to be listening. He curiously opened the wallet and his jaw nearly hit the ground. His father's wallet was overflowing with twenty-dollar bills: more of them than he could even count. He snapped out of his state of shock when Jerry's hand suddenly snatched the wallet from his grasp.

"I'll take that, you little prier," Jerry said with a small smile.

"Dad, where'd you get all that money?" asked Harold, apparently still in shock.

Jerry sighed. "I guess the cat's out of the bag," he said. "I've been saving up for that surprise I told you about."

"For how long?" Harold asked.

"Not too long," Jerry admitted. "A month or so."

"Dang," said Harold. "How much is in there?"

Jerry leaned closer to his son to make sure the others didn't hear and whispered, "Four hundred dollars."

"FOUR HUNDRED…"

Jerry hurriedly threw his hand over Harold's mouth again. "Shh. That's right, four hundred dollars."

"Wow, that must be a _big_ surprise," said Harold.

"It is," said Jerry. "And believe me it'll be worth every penny."

"Excuse me?" said an unfamiliar feminine voice.

Harold and Jerry turned their heads in the direction the voice had come from. Only a few feet in front of them was a young girl of about fifteen. Harold stared at her looking dumbfounded, mainly because she was extremely beautiful. About Harold's height, gracefully thin, big blue eyes, wavy blonde hair, and ivory skin. Harold could sweat he suddenly heard angels singing as the sunlight reflected off her golden curls.

"Oh, I'm sorry," said the girl, not seeming to notice Harold's gawping. "I just thought I heard you say my name."

"I'm sorry? _Your_ name?" asked Jerry, who'd never seen this girl before in his life, let alone known her name.

"Yeah, it's Penny," she said.

"Ah," said Jerry. "No, I'm sorry. I was just making a statement to my son here." It was at this point that Jerry noticed Harold staring quietly like a statue. He instantly tried to snap him out of it. "Harold? Harold?"

"Huh? What?" asked Harold.

"Don't stare, Son," Jerry said quietly.

"Sorry," said Harold.

Jerry turned his attention back to Penny. "If you don't mind me asking, have you been standing there long?"

"Oh no," Penny replied with a small chuckle. "I was just on my way to the beach and then I heard you say 'penny' right when I walked by and I just thought you were talking to me."

"I apologize," said Jerry. "It was only a coincidence. But I'm sure you get it a lot."

"Can't say that I do," said Penny. "Anyways, I'd better get going. It was nice meeting you."

"Likewise," said Jerry.

"By the way," Penny said before going on her way. "Your son, Harold did you say? He's sure cute. Hope to see you all again."

With that, Penny was off. Harold watched her leave, blushing at the statement she'd made about him. Jerry and the others all looked at him. Their faces reflected everything from pleasure to suspicion.

Sid chuckled. "Now _this_ is a great way to start a trip."

Jerry, one of the few whose face showed suspicion, put his hand on Harold's back and quietly said, "I think we need to talk."

_End of Chapter_


	3. Chapter 3

_Chapter 3_

And talk they did. For over an hour, the two of them talked about the beautiful girl they'd just met and Harold's reaction towards her. Well, actually to Harold it seemed like less of a talk than a lecture because Jerry did about ninety-eight percent of the talking. None of what he said surprised Harold. It was mostly comments like, "Don't be deceived by appearances," or "Teenaged girls can be hard to read," or the ever popular, "You don't know anything about her". These statements, and more, were repeated so often that after a while Harold had practically given up listening and would only nod occasionally or say, "Okay," or "Fine".

The lecture finally seemed to come to an end by the time the group had finished unloading the van and arrived at the beach.

"All I'm saying is that you should be careful," Jerry said as they walked slowly onto the sandy ground. "Teenage crushes can often lead to big trouble if they're not careful."

"Okay," Harold said for at least the tenth time.

The two of them stopped walking and Jerry placed both his hands on Harold's shoulders. "I know I can't make you handle this like I think you should, Harold. I just want you to make good choices. Can you promise me that?"

Harold nodded. "Yeah, I promise."

Jerry smiled and patted him on the shoulder, unaware that all Harold had heard was, _"I know I can't make you handle this like I think you should." _

"Hey, Jerry," said Martin. "You want to come with us to get a soda while the boys go swimming?"

"Sure, I'll come," Jerry replied. He turned to Harold and asked, "You want me to bring you something back?"

"No thanks," Harold replied.

"Okay. We'll be back soon. You have fun with your friends."

Jerry walked off with the other dads. As soon as he was out of sight, Harold started looking around for Penny. But just because Jerry was no longer in sight didn't mean Harold had gone unseen.

While Gerald, Sid, and Eugene made a beeline for the ocean, Arnold marched up to Harold and tried to give him his own lecture.

"Harold, can I talk to you for a minute?"

Harold wasn't happy to hear this. "Not now Arnold. I'm trying to find Penny."

"I know," said Arnold. "That's why I want to talk to you."

This made Harold all the more unhappy. "Ugh, come on. Didn't I already get enough of this from my dad?"

"Take it easy, Harold. I just want to say that you really should take your dad's advice."

Harold didn't buy this. "Why should I? You and I both know girls don't like me. Now the best looking girl I've ever seen takes one look at me and says I'm cute. My dad can give me all the lectures he wants, but I know Penny's the girl of my dreams."

"Harold, please just hear me out," said Arnold. "I really think you should know something."

Harold angrily crossed his arms. "Okay, shoot."

"Not too long ago, I was in a situation similar to yours," Arnold explained. "I came to the beach and met this pretty girl named Summer. She was really cool and we hung out a lot. Before long I honestly started to think she liked me. But then I found out that she was only using me to help her and her boyfriend win a sandcastle contest."

"So?" asked Harold.

"So, I'm speaking as someone who's had personal experience," Arnold continued. "When I thought a pretty girl liked me, it turned out to be too good to be true."

"Yeah, well this isn't like that," said Harold.

"How do you know?" asked Arnold.

"Because it's like I said, girls don't like me. And if some pretty girl comes up to me of all people and she thinks I'm cute then I know she's something special."

Arnold sighed, realizing that he'd more or less been defeated. "Well, like your dad said, I can't make you handle this like I think you should, but I still want you to make the right choices."

And with that, he walked away to join the other boys. Harold was left alone. He stood still for a few minutes watching his friends splashing in the waves.

"How many lectures am I gonna get today?" he asked himself out loud.

"Good question." A voice from behind him startled him. He quickly turned around and saw Penny, who didn't seem to mind that she took him by surprise. "But if I were you, I'd know when to tell them enough is enough."

Harold sighed. "You sure have a habit of sneaking up on people."

Penny giggled. "So I've been told. Sorry about that."

"Eh," Harold dismissed the apology. "No big deal."

"I had a feeling I'd see you again," said Penny. "And I hoped even more that I'd get you to talk this time."

"Yeah," Harold replied nervously. "I hoped I'd see you again too. And I hoped I'd be able to talk too. And since I'm talking… I'm Harold."

"Yeah, I know," Penny replied with a small laugh. "Your dad told me, remember?"

"Oh yeah." Harold had forgotten that, since he was too busy staring at her when it'd happened.

"He seems like a sweet man," Penny continued.

"Yeah, but he can sure lecture," Harold said disgustedly. "Hopefully he'll get sick of it when we get to know each other better."

Penny looked at him quietly.

"Uh…" Harold was at a loss for words, as so often happened when he was dealing with girls. "I didn't mean that like as, ya know, boyfriend and girlfriend or anything like that. I meant as… well, you know… just good friends… really good friends…"

Penny put a hand up to stop him. "It's okay, Harold. You don't have to explain what you meant to me."

Harold sighed. "Good."

"Unfortunately," Penny continued, "I'm not really in a condition where I allow myself to get too close to anyone."

"Why not?" asked Harold.

Penny looked down at the ground. "I just got out of a bad relationship," she explained. "So anything more than friends isn't really an option for me."

"Oh," said Harold, who was disappointed in more ways than one. "I'm sorry to hear that."

"It's fine," said Penny. "It's just, you know, it was a great relationship at first. We shared everything, including allowances and, in his case, paychecks. It was like we were married."

Harold didn't really know much about dating, so he just nodded and pretended he understood.

"But it didn't work out ultimately and when he left he took all the money with him, just like a real divorce," said Penny. "He just emptied out piggy bank and took off with it all. Four hundred dollars. And now I'm broke."

"Oh man," said Harold.

"It took me so long to earn my part of that money," said Penny. "And money doesn't grow on trees. If only some really cute boy could come up to me with four hundred dollars and willing to share it with a poor single, broke girl."

"Wow, that's really tough. I wish I could…" Harold stopped. It suddenly hit him. He knew exactly how he could, not only help Penny, but also win her. "Wait. I can."

"Can what?" Penny asked.

"I know how I can help you," Harold answered. "My dad has four hundred dollars. I could… borrow it from him."

"Oh Harold, I couldn't possibly ask that of you," said Penny.

"No no, it's not a problem," Harold insisted. "That money was supposed to be for some surprise he has for me, but you need it more."

"Are you absolutely sure?" Penny asked.

"Positive. Don't worry, Penny. I'll help you get every cent of that money back and more."

Penny put her hand over her heart. "Harold, you're as sweet as you are cute. Thank you so much."

_End of Chapter_


	4. Chapter 4

_Chapter 4_

A little after midnight that night, Harold was in his bed but was wide-awake. It wasn't so much that Sid, with whom he was sharing a room, was talking in his sleep. In fact, Harold even snickered at it a few times and got enjoyment out of listening to Sid dreaming about a riding a rocking horse.

No. Harold had much bigger things on his mind. He knew from the beginning that his father would never give him the four hundred dollars after he'd been saving it for a special occasion. He knew he'd have no other choice but to take matters into his own hands. And he'd have to do it at a time when his father wasn't suspecting, and what better time to do that than while he was asleep?

Harold looked at his alarm clock. Quarter past midnight. He'd been pretending to be asleep for about two-and-a-half hours now. Surely everyone else, Jerry included, must have been asleep by now. The time had come. He threw his covers off and stepped as lightly as he could out of bed. At first, he tried tiptoeing to the door, but Sid was sleep-talking loud enough to drown out any other sound. That sure made leaving the room a lot easier.

As soon as he was out of the room, he closed the door and looked down the hall trying to remember which room his dad was in. Before he could take another step, he heard the toilet flushing on the other side of the nearest door, which was the bathroom. Only seconds later, the door opened and who should walk out but Arnold?

The two boys jumped and almost screamed when they saw each other. They covered their mouths before either of them could make a sound.

"Harold?" Arnold asked with a sigh. "What are you doing up?"

"I… I…" Harold stuttered.

He thought about saying he was going to the kitchen, an excuse he'd used on several occasions. But then he realized that he didn't technically have to lie. In fact, maybe Arnold could provide him with the information he needed.

"I was just trying to remember which room my dad's in," he said honestly.

Arnold glared at him suspiciously. "Why?"

Now Harold realized he really _did_ have to lie. "I had a bad dream," he said quickly.

Arnold raised an eyebrow. "You sure?"

"Yes," Harold replied impatiently. "Now if you're not gonna help me remember then go back to bed."

"Fine," said Arnold, though he still didn't sound convinced. "He and Eugene's dad are at the end of the hall on the right."

"Thanks. Goodnight."

Harold quietly made a beeline for the door Arnold pointed him to.

Arnold watched him for a few more seconds and then went back to his own room. "Don't do anything stupid, Harold," he said quietly as he closed the door.

When Harold was at his father's door, he didn't waste any time. He quietly turned the knob and slowly pushed the door open. It was just as Arnold had said. Jerry was asleep in one bed and Nate in the other. Mission accomplished. Well, at the least the first (and less tricky) part of the mission. He'd found the right room, but now it was time for the hard part. Harold now had to find his dad's wallet and make it all the way back to his room without being heard or seen, especially by Arnold.

He took a few steps into the room and approached his dad's bed. He knew at least Jerry would keep the wallet near him if not on him. As Harold tiptoed closer, he noticed something on the floor right by the bed. Jerry's shorts and t-shirt, the ones he'd worn that day. Harold grinned. He knew instantly that the wallet would be in one of the shorts' pockets. He picked up speed and reached down to pick up the pair of shorts, but before he could even reach them…

"AAH!"

Something seemed to appear on the floor beneath him. Harold tripped and landed face-first onto the floor.

"Ow," he said, rubbing his forehead.

The pain didn't stay on his mind for long. He gasped when he saw both Jerry and Nate sit up awake in their beds. They both looked down at him curiously. He looked up at then and smiled innocently.

"Harold?" said Jerry, who was tiredly rubbing his eyes. "What happened? And what are you doing in here?"

Harold, whose plan was now defeated, got to his feet and looked down at whatever he'd tripped on. It turned out to be a hat.

"I just slipped on that," he said, answering his father's first question.

"Oh, sorry Harold," said Nate. "That's mine. I probably shouldn't have left it on the floor. You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Harold replied.

"Good," Nate said before going back to sleep, "I gotta say though, when you hit the floor, I thought at first it was _my_ son. Anyway, goodnight you two."

As soon as Nate was back in dreamland, Jerry asked Harold, "So why are you in here, Son? Did you need something?"

Harold realized there was no point in trying to get the wallet now, so he decided to stick to the same excuse he'd given Arnold. "I just had a bad dream, that's all."

"Oh," said Jerry. "Are you okay?"

"Um…" Harold then decided maybe the plan wasn't ruined after all. Maybe if Jerry invited him to sleep in his room for the night, he (Harold) could easily get the wallet before morning. With that in mind, he answered, "No… I don't think so."

Jerry smiled and scooted over a bit to make a new spot in the bed for Harold. "Come here. Lay down next to me."

Harold knew at this point that he had to act like he truly had had a bad dream. So he saddened his expression, making it look convincing, then got under the covers and curled up against Jerry.

"Feel better now?" Jerry asked.

"Yeah," Harold replied.

This time, he was actually being honest. Even though he hadn't had an actual nightmare, it still felt really nice to be leaning against his father. Harold couldn't explain it, even to himself. There was nothing truly bothering him (except of course that his original plan hadn't worked), so why did he suddenly feel much safer and more comfortable in his father's arms? Maybe it was because it had been a while since they'd actually shared a moment like this and he'd never given it much thought until now.

"Good," Jerry replied. "Get some sleep now. You won't want to be tired tomorrow."

"Okay," Harold yawned. "Night, Dad."

"Goodnight, Harold."

Harold decided to worry about getting the wallet in the morning. Right now he was too busy playing the role of a despaired son in need of his father. And as weird as it was to admit, he actually liked it. At least now he knew where to turn to when he actually had a nightmare.

_End of Chapter_


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